" He found his old faith in the perfectibility of man
renewed, and often he would keep his eyes closed for many minutes
together, so that he could see the face of his dreams.
So months went on, and joined together into years.
Then, one day in the subway, with his eyes full open, James Neal
suddenly saw the face! He had been going home from work in the evening
quite as usual. The express train on which he was riding was about to
leave Fourteenth Street Station when a tall man who was about to enter
the local train standing at the other side of the station platform
turned and looked directly at him. Mr. Neal's heart almost stopped
beating. His eyes were blinded, and yet he saw the face so distinctly
that he could never forget it. It was just as he had known it would be,
and yet gentler and stronger. A moment Mr. Neal stood spellbound. The
door of his own car was sliding shut; he leaped toward it, and, as we
have already seen, squeezed through and ran toward the other train.
Though he was too late to get in, still he could see the face within the
moving car. Thinking about it later, as he did very, very often, he
realized that he could not tell how the man with the "good face" was
dressed; he could see only his face, and that for a moment only, as the
local moved swiftly out of the station.
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